Hip prostheses are widely used and in great demand. Conventionally, such prostheses have been designed as a more or less simple replacement for the upper end of a femur, and comprise a head mounted on a shaft which is cemented to the remaining, lower part of the femur. Even if considerable trouble and expense is taken to ensure that the prosthesis has a shape which exactly replaces the upper part of the femur, it is difficult or impossible to ensure that the prosthesis and the remaining part of the femur are joined to provide an exact replacement of the bone as a whole.
The fixing of prostheses to existing bone has recently been facilitated by the introduction of the so-called huckstep nail. A huckstep nail comprises an elongate shaft which is inserted into the remaining bone. This allows for greater precision in fixing the relative positions of the distal end of the nail and the remaining bone, and can be used even when the remaining bone has suffered considerable necrosis following, cancer. Kits for inserting and fixing huckstep nails are available.